The Logic of the Cross and the Heart of Mary

Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, who serves as the Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary at the Vatican, presided a Mass in Fatima, Portugal, on the feast of the exaltation of the Cross, on September 14, 2017, for the 100^th anniversary of the Fatima apparition in September 1917.

In his homily, he underscored the relationship between the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the mystery of the Cross: "Whenever life puts us on a cross, whenever infirmity, lack of understanding, loneliness, exclusion or betrayal crucify us, we are held in the heart of Mary, because the Cross always finds its place there."

"The Logic of the Cross" is "a logic of offering and sacrifice, expiation and death, to reach the glory of the resurrection. ... Christian morality is simply about remaining faithful to the Cross! It means living in a way that we are mindful of the crucified Christ, imploring him at all times to accept suffering rather than to cause suffering; to die rather than to kill; to welcome others rather than to reject them; to love always, without ceasing."

Zenit